By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
GREAT BEND — Grain bins. As you look at them and think of their purpose, you don’t always associate a danger with the large containers. Accidents and emergencies happen with grain bins more frequently than you think.
That’s a big reason why
staff from the Oklahoma State University Fire Service Training were in Great
Bend last Friday to show local firefighters the proper steps in rescuing anyone
that gets trapped in a grain bin.
Shane Campbell, with OSU Fire Service Training in Stillwater, Oklahoma,
mentioned a lot agricultural families will send their children inside the grain
bins to clean off the top.
"The best thing we can teach them is
to not go in the grain bin unless you absolutely have to," said
Campbell. "If you do, make sure you don't do it by yourself and have the
proper gear and equipment to do it."
The local Farm Bureau sponsored the training at Great Bend Fire Department Station #2 this past weekend.
Fire Chief Luke McCormick was among several
firefighters that went into the grain bin modular, filled with pellets representing
grain, and practiced the steps of safely removing a victim.
"That
grain is very heavy," said McCormick. "As a person gets buried, even
down to your knees or waist, the average person is not going to be able
to get themselves out of that situation. The deeper they go and more
they fight, the more the grain is going to get them entrapped. That
makes it harder to breathe and harder to get out."
Both Campbell and McCormick encouraged anyone going into a grain bin to make
use of a harness system. If the grain does collapse beneath your feet, the
harness will keep you suspended above the grain until help arrives.
Hear the full interviews with McCormick and Campbell below.